The Transport Secretary has received a rare message of support from the rail industry after a leading hopeful to run an expanded Thameslink network backed his plans to rip up the refranchising rule book.

Patrick McLoughlin recently suspended the normal franchising process to appoint a train operator to run the cross-capital, north-south Thameslink service, which is to be merged into Southern Railway.

The minister conceded that the contract, which will hinge on massive works at London Bridge to allow 24 mainline trains an hour through the heart of London, is too important to be let as a normal franchise. Instead,